This school year, Temple has recruited about 55 outstanding new tenured and tenure-track faculty members. These top scholars, researchers and creative minds come from diverse backgrounds, but they all have significant goals.

Below are profiles of several new faculty members from across the institution. You can learn about what brought them to Temple, and what they hope to accomplish here.

R. LANCE HOLBERT
Professor and Chair, Department of Strategic Communication
Last stop: University of South Carolina
What attracted him to Temple: Holbert said Temple is unique in its focus on both teaching and research. “It’s rare to find that combination where you’re doing things for students – including the new Fly in 4 program  – and have a faculty that is out there generating new knowledge.”
What he hopes to accomplish: Holbert wants to deepen his department’s global connections and add to Temple’s diversity. “Temple is a place that thrives on diversity.”

CATHERINE MACLEAN
Associate Professor, Department of Economics
Last stop: University of Pennsylvania
What attracted her to Temple: Temple offered Maclean more opportunities to perform applied microeconomic research and to teach. “At Temple, there’s a real focus on teaching and investment in students. That’s a real strength. I truly admire that pride and that focus on teaching, which was a driving factor for me to come here.”
What she hopes to accomplish: Maclean is looking forward to teaching courses on health economics, econometrics, undergraduate research methods and “whatever the department needs.”

RAJ KISHORE
Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine and Director of Stem Cell Therapy Program in Center for Translational Medicine
Last stop: Northwestern University
What attracted him to Temple: Kishore was eager to work with Temple’s cardiovascular scientists, whom he considers to rank among the best in the country. “I think the fact that Temple has been able to recruit more than 600 new faculty members [over the past 11 years] speaks to the university’s growing reputation.”
What he hopes to accomplish: As director of the Stem Cell Therapy Program in Temple’s Center for Translational Medicine, Kishore hopes to learn more about how to harness the power of stem-cell therapy to improve stem-cell repair in the heart. He also wants to partner with his colleagues at Temple to bring the field of regenerative medicine to the forefront.

SUDHIR KUMAR
Laura H. Carnell Professor, Department of Biology and Director, Institute for Genomic and Evolutionary Medicine
Last stop: Arizona State University
What attracted him to Temple: Kumar directs Temple’s new Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine. “This institute will build a super team by bringing together exceptional research and education expertise at Temple in basic and biomedical sciences, including biology, computer sciences, chemistry, physics, medicine, and pharmacology. Temple’s strength in analytics and informatics makes it an ideal place.”
What he hopes to accomplish: Kumar hopes to recruit existing faculty and make many new faculty hires, who will work with students and research assistants, to discover patterns and processes that govern changes in DNA and harness this knowledge for applications in genomic medicine.

CHENG-YONG TANG
Associate Professor, Department of Statistics
Last stop: University of Colorado Denver
What attracted him to Temple: Tang was excited to join the Department of Statistics and the Fox School of Business, both of which he feels are growing in prominence. “For me, the university and the business school, and the environment and faculty here, were quite attractive and supportive of my career development.”
What he hopes to accomplish: Tang wants to delve into big-data analysis, particularly for business and industrial applications. 

KATHERINE WILLETS
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry (starting in January)
Last stop: University of Texas at Austin
What attracted her to Temple: In addition to Temple’s vibrant Main Campus, Willets was enticed by the opportunity to work with highly esteemed colleagues. “There’s a really great chemistry community at Temple. I’m interested in having the opportunity to work with the people there, and continue my research with a fresh perspective.”
What she hopes to accomplish: Willets will lead a lab that focuses on the field of molecular plasmonics. Graduate students, postdoctoral students and undergraduates may work there.

LAUREN WOLKSTEIN
Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Media Arts
Last stop: Saint Joseph’s University
What attracted her to Temple: An award-winning filmmaker whose work has appeared in the Sundance Film Festival, Wolkstein was thrilled to join a robust film and media arts department. “The thing I really fell in love with at Temple is that the film department is so well established. At a lot of schools, film is not even a major. Coming to a department at Temple where there’s a Master of Fine Arts program as well as an undergraduate program means everything to me.”
What she hopes to accomplish: Wolkstein plans to continue her work as a filmmaker while encouraging her students to pursue their own careers in cinema. “I feel the students at Temple have a real deep desire to know the craft of filmmaking and want to learn it inside out. They have the passion to do it—they just need the training.”